Ministry of Unification officials have concluded that the fall harvest in North Korea will be 600,000T lighter than it was in 2011 as a result of poor weather conditions in this cycle.
A ministry official told a press conference today, “Taking account of the opinions of international agencies and experts, such an estimate seems possible. It may be the case that the food situation in North Korea will be difficult in the second half of this year going into next.”
The official added that if domestic production of wheat and barley and imports each reach 500,000T then the overall food deficit for the farming year 2013 (Nov.2012-Oct.2013) should fall somewhere between 800,000 and 1,000,000T.
The official noted that while the scale of damage from recent heavy rain and one typhoon was similar to last year, but that there were a higher than normal number of dead and homeless.
According to the North Korean state media and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 223 people died with 594 injured or missing. Last year only 70 people died, went missing or were injured.
